Super Street Fighter 4 Review – Xbox 360

Re-balanced characters, updated roster and strong online multiplayer options make this the best Street Fighter game ever!

What’s hot:

Stunning visuals

Awesome Video replays

3/4th the price of the original Street Fighter 4 game!

What’s not:

No tournament mode

Multiplayer is hard with a unequal connection speeds

The Review:

When Super Street Fighter 4 was announced, I was very quick, as I’m sure many others were, to dismiss it as a simple overhaul and a spit and polish job. But boy! Was I wrong about it!

If you’ve played the earlier version (Street Fighter 4), you’ll instantly notice a few changes such as such as the introduction of a second user-selectable ultra combo per character, new online battle modes, and fresh animated cinematics that bookend each storyline. But what really makes this edition stand out is the behind the scenes work – rebalanced characters – which in my opinion was so critically off in the SF4 especially with Sagat feeling overpowerd and Ryu feeling underpowered.

Also you’ll notice instantly that the roster has gotten a nice boost. The 12 original world warriors are there – Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Guile, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison

Most of the moves from the SF4 carry over, such as your focus attacks, combos, ultra combos etc. with of course the addition of the Ultra Combo 2.

Online play has received the biggest improvement in Super Street Fighter IV. The game supports ranked match play, team battles (two vs. two, three vs. three, and four vs. four), and Endless Battle mode. Team battles are one-on-one round-robin matches, with the loser eliminated until a team is crowned victorious. Endless Battle supports a lobby of up to eight players and sees the winner staying on, with the next person in the queue taking on the defending champ. Voice chat during matches gives players on the bench the chance to yell encouragement or talk smack as they watch two players go head-to-head onscreen. It’s the online equivalent of crowding around an arcade machine and is exceptional fun with strangers or a bunch of friends.

As it stands, the game doesn’t support a dedicated tournament mode for online competitive play, but Capcom has confirmed the release of a free patch due in mid June this year which will add the feature.

Bottom line:

Super Street Fighter IV is simply awesome compared to its predecessor. Its large and diverse character roster, balance tweaks, and comprehensive online play reaffirm its place as one of the best fighters this generation, and it’s a worthy upgrade even if you own last year’s version. The results are improvements in every aspect of the game, making this a must-have for series fans and Internet brawlers.